Separator systems are used in industry for a variety of undertakings. They are used to process dry materials and liquid/solid slurries. Each one typically functions by first introducing a flow of material to a porous element such as a screen or filter, usually of woven wire mesh or a porous membrane. The flow of material is separated into two streams, one containing material that passes through the porous element, the other containing material that is rejected by the porous element. A drive mechanism may be operatively coupled with a housing to produce a vibrating motion that serves to put the material on the porous element in motion until it either passes through or is pushed off the element at the periphery thereof. Other devices use pressure to increase flow through a membrane with cycled application including reverse flow to clear the rejected material.
Such separator systems employ screens in rectangular and circular forms with screen elements tensioned on frames or with hooks tensioned on the separator itself. The screen elements range greatly in porosity and can be of a single element or of laminated elements. The separator frames can be vibratory or fixed and, when vibratory, supported by a variety of means such as springs, bushings or links. Such systems alternatively employ filters, tensioned or untensioned, supported or unsupported and of widely varying porosities and shapes including rectangular, circular, cylindrical and bag shaped. Many additional features are, of course, available such as housing covers, elaborate manifolds and various and changeable motions, rates and cycles. Patents disclosing a small sampling of such systems and components include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,022,693; 4,251,354; 4,582,597; 4,613,432; 4,655,911; 4,968,366; 5,032,210; 5,051,171; 5,134,893; 5,221,008; 5,226,546; 5,242,058; 5,255,789; 5,265,730; 5,271,504; 5,456,365; 5,950,841; 6,089,380; 6,202,856; 6,349,834; 6,431,368; and 6,513,665, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Materials typically screened vary considerably in their particle size, bulk density, chemical composition, temperature, moisture content and other physical and chemical characteristics. Any particular separator system in a given processing plant is likely dedicated to handling a single material with consistent properties. Examples of such materials, to show the diversity but not to provide a comprehensive list, include:
abrasives, activated carbon, calcium carbonates, ceramic slurries, chlorine compounds, citric acid, fertilizers, flours, food products, gunpowder, minerals, paper coating slurries, pharmaceuticals, pigments, polystyrene beads, powdered metals, powdered paints, printing inks, PVC powder, refractories, rocket propellants, and starches.
As a result, various screen configurations, vibration profiles and environments are employed to maximize efficiency and the quality of the resulting processed materials.
By far the most common failure mode for separator systems is the failure of the porous element. Screens, for example, are typically made of finely woven wire cloth drawn taut by a screen frame or tensioning apparatus on the separator. Failure is caused by numerous factors such as wear and fatigue failure. Such failures typically occur as breaks in the screening media itself resulting in a damaged screen. Such breaks may manifest themselves as tears (a series of mutually adjacent broken wires), punctures (tears in two directions) or holes (missing portions of the screening material). Once the screen has failed, the function of a separating system is compromised. At a minimum, it can no longer be relied upon to reject all oversized material because such material can now pass through the break in the screen. Worse, it can result in fragments of the failed screen contaminating the material being screened, presenting a serious hazard in food or pharmaceutical screening operations. Similar failure occur in filter elements.
As the porous elements are typically located within closed housings or under material being processed, it is difficult to visually detect such failures. Thus, where critical separation is demanded, frequent inspection is advisable. As such efforts to insure quality separation result in downtime and labor and still result in compromised processed material, methods for detecting breaks have been long sought. Systems have been devised that attempt to detect screen failure by measuring the electrical or optical paths through the mesh screen itself. See U.S. Pat. No.5,996,807, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. These are believed to have been proven impractical and have not met with general market acceptance.
A detection system is most beneficial when it can be retained in a location relative to the porous element(s) under surveillance or being audited. The retaining system must be transparent to the detection system while keeping it in a fixed location during operation of the material separator. Thus, a retaining system must firmly affix the detection system to the material separator in a desired location. Further, a retaining system must not interfere with the operation of the detection system or the material separator while protecting the detection system from being infiltrated with material from the separator. In addition, the retaining system should allow access to the detection system for maintenance or use of the detection system on another material separator.